[Pinned] The Kinship Charter: Version II

Kinship CharterThe Red Company was formed on 23rd February 2013. Ever since it has grown into a socially active and helpful kinship. Our kin nowadays exists of a wide range of ages and our players are from various countries across the world. To keep it a warm and welcoming place for everyone, we've setup the following code to maintain that.

RanksOur kin consists of a hierarchy. The ranks are as followed:- Kinleader: this is Adilyr. He sets the course of the kin and makes sure we don’t get off track. - Deputy-Kinleader: This is Meriya. She takes over whenever Adilyr isn't around. - Officer: these currently are Nanteana, Dolvethir, Theogorn and Aedree. They deal with the overall daily business of the kin. Each has their own ‘division’ such as raiding, deeds and quests, band performance, social media, events or roleplay. Every officer also recruits newcomers and introduces them to the kin. The officers are the go-to persons whenever a member needs help or advice and at times they also provide a listening ear. They also assist the kinleaders with their tasks. The officers uphold the welcoming and warm environment of the kin and where necessary will deal with disputes and offer warnings, sanctions or in the rare case ban a player from the kin. - Member: an active player that has been with the kin for more than a month. These form the core or our kinship.- Recruit: a player that has recently joined our kinship. Based on activity and behavior the recruit will get promoted after a month to the rank of member.- Allies: kinships that we have an affiliation with, such as through raiding or roleplaying.- Friend: a player that is not (or no longer) a member of our kin, yet keeps in touch with us and offers help with aspects like events, raids, roleplay and sort like.

You will be promoted to a kinsman after being in the kin for one month and having attended at least one event. If you have not been promoted and meet these criteria, please contact an officer.

Respect and Positive Attitude It is expected that all members of the kinship treat each other with respect, as well as be respectful towards players outside of the kin. A joke is fine, but it should never be meant to insult or offend another player. Always bear in mind that our members come from different backgrounds, ages, races and sexes. Therefore you should avoid discussing subjects like politics, religion or sexual behavior.

We also expect our members to carry an attitude that is motivational and uplifting in the general spirit of the kinship. We will not allow nor accept players that have attitude issues towards other members. Players that seek constant drama are also not tolerated.

There is a distinct difference between In Character (IC) and Out Of Character (OOC) behavior when it comes to roleplay and we do recognize this. However this is not a free pass to go insult another player ICly to the excess. We ask of our roleplayers that they keep a clear vision of what is said or done IC and what is said or done OOC.

Disrespectful behavior and negative attitudes are not tolerated in this kin and will be dealt with accordingly.

Members must remember that they represent the kinship. Therefore, in other channels, such as world or fellowship, or on social media, they should refrain from behaviour which reflects poorly on the kinship.

We utilize a chain of command. Under no circumstances will an officer or kinleader be scrutinized, harassed or verbally abused. The kinleaders and officers work hard for the kinship and are the creators of the community in which we all enjoy. Please respect them.

HelpfulnessCooperation is something we pride ourselves on. We wish this tradition to continue and therefore we encourage our members to help each other out. If you have a question or need help with a quest, trading an item, crafting or similar, you are free to ask in the kin chat or to poke one of the officers for advice. Higher level characters are encouraged to help their lower level kinmembers. However, this does not mean lower level members may expect their help on any given moment and time. Begging for items is also not tolerated. The general rule is to help others as much as you want to be helped.

InactivityReal life always comes first, is our motto. Therefore it is okay if you take a break from the game for whatever reason. If you plan to be inactive for two weeks or more, please inform us by posting your absence on Vacation forums and preferably also notify an officer. Every week we clean out our roster. All players that are inactive for six weeks and have not provided any notification will be removed.

If this is the first time you have been removed for inactivity, you are eligible to rejoin one time. Providing that your membership was in good standing before the inactivity occurred. Should you again be removed for inactivity, you will no longer be eligible to rejoin.

ChatChat Channels (Kinship, Allies, Fellowship, Raid, etc.) are to be kept clean and respectful at all times. There are to be no racial slurs, no swearing, and no implementing different spelling of curse words.

Continuous use of so-called ‘leet-speak’ or foreign languages is not encouraged. Instead use (standard) English in the kin channel. Bad language on accident is understandable at times, but if taken to excess or if members complain about it, the offender will be asked to moderate their language. Continued excessive swearing can ultimately lead to disciplinary action.

Website and ForumsLotro provides us with a couple of communication systems like The Message Of The Day and the In-game Mail. However, these are not always suitable to share information. That is why we rely heavily on our website and forums as well. Here you will find more detailed news and information such as changes within the kin, introductions of new kinmembers, upcoming events and guides to several aspects of the game. The forums are also used for announcing absence and at times are used to host small competitions, raffles and sort like. Besides that it’s also used for general banter that can be either game-related or non-game related. Therefore it’s vital that you visit the forums and website at least once a week.

Besides the website and forums we are also active on Facebook, Twitter, Steam and the Laurelin Archives. We welcome you to visit us there as well.

TeamSpeakTeamSpeak is a tool we use for (voice) communicating more directly and swiftly. In the case of official Raids and Deed events the member must have TeamSpeak, though a microphone is not required. The reason for this is that the raidleader doesn’t have the time to direct the other raidmembers through typing when there is a fight at hands. There are two exceptions: if it’s your first time joining the official deed or raid group, or when you have a good reason as to why using TeamSpeak is impossible. The officer will then make the decision to accept it or not.

TeamSpeak can also be used by parties outside of the kin. For non-official groups it is the leader who decides if TeamSpeak is compulsory or not. They have the right to not accept members who don’t use TeamSpeak.

Besides official raiding and deeding, Teamspeak is also used by the kin for general banter, discussing roleplay actions and sort like. It is therefore that we encourage our members to make use of it.

The uniform makes us stand out from the other Lotro players and unifies us as a kin. It is however not mandatory to wear it, unless the occasion – such as a formal IC meeting or raiding with another kin – requires it. When the latter occurs, this will be announced by the leader of either said roleplay or raid.

The kinleaders and officers wear a different cloak. You can recognize them by the golden stars their cloak harbors. Members that don’t have the rank of kinleader or officer are not allowed to wear this cloak whenever it is required to wear the uniform.

If you haven’t received your uniform yet, please inform one of the officers or kinleaders.

Partying, Raids & InstancesIt is expected that all members of a party involving kinship members behave in the spirit of the game. Before the party sets off a leader is established. This does not apply when it concerns an official kinship party or raid. Once a leader is established he/she organizes the run as it progresses. It is therefore vital that you listen to the leader’s requests. A leader should not dictate the group, but make reasonable requests. Members should listen to these requests and follow through to make the run go smooth and keep if fun for everyone.

Loot rules must be established before the group gets involved in the coming adventure. Examples of looting systems are: Need before Greed, Main before Alt, Roll on BoE, Pass on BoP and so on. Please discuss the matter extensively beforehand if there is the intention to use a “non-standard” system. Loot rules for official kin parties will be determined and announced by the officers ahead of time.

For bind on equip items, priority is given to people who need them for equipment rather than just cosmetic use. People who only need them as cosmetics must make sure that no one needs them as equipment before claiming them.

Members are expected not to pick unnecessary fights with people from outside the kin when being in a party with them. However, should the behavior of an external person in a party/raid be utterly intolerable (e.g. ninja-looting, verbal abuse), all members are encouraged to stick together and, if appropriate, to warn the kin as a whole against these persons.Preference for attendance at official Raids is given in the following order: Members -> Recruits -> Friends -> Everyone else.

RoleplayRoleplaying is a fun element in the game and is greatly encouraged within this kinship. Everyone is welcome, whether you are new to roleplay or a hardcore oldtimer. We ask of our members that they are to be courteous to all roleplayers, both in and out of the kin, regardless of if you roleplay or not. We will not tolerated members that on purpose try to destroy the mood or motive of an ongoing roleplay event.

During the official roleplay events we use the /say and /e channels for In Character (IC) purposes only. Out Of Character (OOC) should be saved for other channels like the /kinchat, /party, /raid or /tell. Before a roleplay session begins the roleplay leader will announce which channel will be used for OOC speech.

If a roleplay has already started the moment you join, please respect whatever has been agreed upon by the group earlier.

The moment a member feels uncomfortable with the roleplay, he/she should bring this up to the roleplay leader or towards the player they are roleplaying with. The other party should then respect the wishes of that member and either change his/her way of roleplaying or cut the roleplay off and start something new.

You do not need to have great lore knowledge to join the roleplay. However we ask of our roleplayers to keep the roleplay within the Tolkien lore and to keep it realistic. For instance a Harry Potter or a Jon Snow character is not something appropriate. Nor is having your character conjure every form of magic and staying unharmed in the heat of a great battle. So having superpowers or being able to come back without injury after your character has visited the brink of death is not very realistic. This type of roleplay we frown upon heavily and if it occurs multiple times, we will ask the offender to alter his roleplay.

Injuring or killing another character while roleplaying should never occur, unless it has been agreed upon beforehand by the player of said character. Without consulting the other player, this kind of action is considered 'God-Modding', and this too is something we frown upon. Roleplay should always be a two-way action, not a one-man show.

If you are unsure about your roleplay or lore knowledge, feel free to ask a more experienced roleplayer for advice. There are also a few guides on the forums that might help you along the way.

Although the help of more experienced and knowledgeable players is appreciated, they must understand that they cannot enforce their opinions on others, unless their style of roleplaying is harming others.

There are several forms of roleplay such as RP-PVP, RP-PVE or Freeform. Please respect the chosen form of the roleplay group or your roleplay partners. Under no circumstances are you allowed to enforce your view of 'good roleplay' upon the other party. The only time you may is when their roleplay is harmful towards the other participants (for instance when someone is God-Modding). There are multiple ways that one can roleplay, there isn't just a single form that is considered 'good' whereas the other forms would be 'bad'. If you don't like it, either try to find an agreement to which both parties can consent to, or walk away.

We ask of our members to keep a clear view of IC behavior and OOC behavior. Please do not take an IC insult personally. But also, don’t harass or insult another member through roleplay just for the sake of it. At all times the roleplay should remain a positive and fun experience for every player involved.

Disputes and ArgumentsWe are all human and we will, at some point, disagree with each other. All arguments should be handled discretely. This means no spamming members with insults, accusations etc. The arguments should be taking to private channels (/whisper, /party) as soon as possible. Under no circumstances are arguments to be carried on using the forum. This causes more problems between members and creates unnecessary drama. If a problem cannot be resolved please bring it to the attention of an officer or kinleader as soon as possible. If you have a dispute with one of the officers, please bring it to the attention of the kinleader as soon as possible. In every case, the kinleader or the officer has the final word in any dispute between members.

SanctionsWe are not a kinship that wants to police its members, so we hope to use this section only rarely. But any breach of this charter can be reported to one of the kinleaders or officers who will deal with the matter. They are responsible for deciding how to deal with members who break the rules.

The kinleaders and officers have complete freedom of action and can warn, fine (as reparations, in case of breaches related to money or items), demote or remove members as they see fit. Immediate removal from the kinship will only occur in the gravest of circumstances – For example, racist, sexist or similar abuse, or attempting to bring the kinship into disrepute. In these rare cases the breaches will be discussed between the kinleaders and officers before the more severe measures of demotion or removal are taken.

Breaches by recruits will face a lower level of tolerance than those of full members; they may be removed without consultation if their actions make clear they don't share the general kinship spirit.

Disciplinary matters normally rest with Adilyr and Meriya, but other officers are within their rights to deal with it too, if neither are available.

The kinleaders and the officers have the right to use their judgement concerning anything that is not covered in the Kinship Charter. Changes to the Kinship Charter can be made at any time by the kinleaders and officers. Whenever that happens, they will inform the kin through in-game mail and by posting it on the website. Whenever a member is not agreeing to the new changes they should make it known to the kinleaders and officers within seven days after the changes have taken place.